Regarding Kim Jong-un’s reaction to the film, I can’t exactly blame him.
If somebody were to make a film about me being ?assassinated, I would be ?angry, seriously reconsider my path in life, or both.
Then, if you add on the god-like status Kim has in his country, the fact that he’s an international leader and the general humorlessness of North Korea, it was inevitable that a movie about his ?assassination would cause a few angry heads to burst.
However, though Kim Jong-un’s reaction is entirely justified, the true question is whether or not we should ?actually care about it.
Considering that freedom of expression is a ?hallmark — if not the biggest hallmark — of the United States, I see ?absolutely no reason why we should bother to consider the ?feelings of the dictator of a fairly ?hostile country when it comes to creating a product, or anything for that matter.
A private-sector entertainment corporation should not be held accountable for maintaining foreign ?relations.
And it certainly should not be criticized for ?creating a comedic movie that ?happened to step on the ?already weak relationship the U.S. has with North Korea.
That said, I do believe Sony should be criticized for canceling the film.
By doing so, Sony thrust itself into the political sphere, creating a precedent that companies should consider the interests of foreign ?national leaders, or really the interests of anyone, before making a product.
Certainly, if a company wants to become involved with some sort of cause, ?political or not, that’s great.
However, the pressure to cancel “The Interview” ?signifies that a private-sector corporation has some sort of obligation that it needs to consider when, really, the only obligations it should consider are its own.
If Sony believed that it would lose a significant amount of money if it ?released this controversial film, then that is entirely ?justified.
However, if Sony takes a stance on principle, that ?creates a mess of murky ?standards and precedents that cannot result in anything good.
It’s true that Sony’s ?decision resulted in part from the refusal of major theater chains to show its movie. However, that wasn’t ?explained clearly in the ?corporation’s apology.
Therefore, Sony is ?completely right to have gone on and released the film.
True, it’s not released in major theaters but, ?given theaters’ concerns of a ?possible security threat, that was the best that Sony could do in this situation.
So bravo, Sony! You did well — even if it took a few tries.
allenjo@indiana.edu
